His Choice
by missbrat155
Summary: A one shot in many parts inspired by the episode The New Mafia Complete!
1. Chapter 1

A/N – I decided to try another one shot. I like watching an episode, and then just writing a quick story of how I would have liked to have seen it all play out! (Not that the writers don't do a fantastic job, but its fun to imagine how things could have happened differently). This is my second one shot – I wrote one awhile back about Simon Says. This one is for the New Mafia, after Jack yells at Tony for endangering Sue, Sue approaches Jack and tells him that he didn't make her go, but Sue never finds out that Tony is actually married. Hope you like it – please review! (PS: sorry if what I write from the actual episode isn't word for word. I'm hard of hearing and at the end of Jacks talk to Sue; I can't quite catch what he is saying. So I'm writing what I THINK he's saying, since I really can't tell! (If anyone can tell me – right after jack says to Sue: Actions like that will get you killed, that would be awesome!) . And by the way, sorry guys but I'm going to make this super angsty. (It might be more than just one post…)

His Choice 

"It's not like he made me go with him." Sue said desperately, looking at Jack's livid face. "I made the choice to go; and it's a good thing I did!" Jack turned to look at Sue.

"I don't care what you got. Actions like that will get you killed. He doesn't see how valuable you are." Before Sue could say anything more, Tony spoke up,

"Got it! This is the guy." He went over and showed Sue a picture of the man they were looking for.

"That's him!" She said excitedly. She grinned even more, as Tony said,

"Good work partner." Partly understanding that Jack just cared about her, and party annoyed that he seemed to think he knew better, Sue walked away to Tara's desk, as Dimitrius laid out the plan to visit Rocco.

-----

Sue entered hesitantly into the Hamas man's apartment, after Tara had nodded to her that it was safe. Jack and Tony walked back into the main room, after checking the rest of the place, Tony wielding the Uzi he found under the bed. They decided to set up surveillance, and wait until he came back home. Sue hung around a bit longer, hoping to have a chance to talk to Jack and smooth things over. She hated that things were awkward between them, just because of Tony. Jack saw her looked at him, but before she could speak, Tony came up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. Jack looked away again, and finished what he was doing, fury rising in his chest, like every time he now saw them together.

"Ready to go?" Sue looked back at Jack, who seemed to refuse to look at her. She nodded, and slowly made her way out, pausing at the door. "Coming Jack?" Tony called out to the only man left in the room. Jack made his way out, walking by Sue, ignoring the hurt look on her face as he brushed by without even looking at her.

-----

Jack saw Bobby's car pull around the corner and knew he would meet the rest of them back at the bullpen. He made his way over to his car, knowing that Sue would want to go with Tony instead of him, but turned as he heard Tony talking to Sue.

"Wait here a second okay?" She nodded and waited by the side of his car, as Tony made his way over to Jack. Jack stood his ground, ready to get into his car, and wondering what Tony wanted.

"What?" He said, quite angrily.

"You don't have to treat her like crap just because you don't like me alright?" Jack was about to get in his face again, now that no one else was around to stop him, when he quickly heard the running steps of some men heading towards them. As he turned he saw the man they were looking for pulling out a gun, and yelling in Arabic, along with two other men. Instinctively, both Jack and Tony ducked behind his car door, as he heard the bullets ring out. They both pulled out their guns, when Jack's heart stopped and realized that Sue was alone by Tony's car, only a few steps away. He looked over and couldn't see her, praying that Levi had gotten her attention and she had gotten to safety. Still, he needed to make sure, especially when he started to hear Levi's continuous barking.

"We need to find Sue and make sure she's okay." He said anxiously to Tony. Tony agreed and they both ran, firing as they went. Jack gasped as he saw her lying on the pavement, unconscious and covered in blood, hidden from the men on the opposite side of Tony's car. He hurried over to her and checked her pulse, which was present, as he heard Tony call into his radio.

"This is Special Agent Caponno. We have an agent down and are currently engaged in a shootout with suspect #1 and 2 others. We need an ambulance stat and back up pronto!" He turned to Jack, who was busy looking at Sue, trying to find the source of the bleeding, and praying that the ambulance would arrive soon. Tony spoke up,

"The ambulance is on its way." He was interrupted as he heard another bullet hit his car. The three men were still there, and they were trapped. "There's nothing else you can do for her now until they get here. We need to go after them." Jack looked at him as if he were crazy.

"We can't just leave her?" He said. Tony looked at him furiously.

"If we don't go now, they might get away. I didn't work for over a year to catch these men…"

"You claimed to care about her!" Jack said incredulously. "I'm not going to leave her here to die!" Tony moved away carefully.

"Fine – You do what you have to do, and I'll do what I have to do. I'm not going to let some terrorists get away." Jack watched as Tony snuck his way behind his vehicle and tried to make his way closer to the men that were shooting at them.

Jack took his coat and pushed it to stem the flow from the bullet hole in her shoulder. He knew that it hadn't hit her heart, but she was losing blood fast, and was most likely unconscious from having fallen and hit her head. He saw the matted blood in her hair from where she must have hit it. He moved her gently; to make sure it wasn't bleeding badly, and choked when he saw the embedded gravel and cement in the open wound.

Suddenly, he felt angry; enraged at Tony for letting this happen to her, furious at her for believing him, and livid at himself for not having protected her. He could hear the ambulance siren in the distance, as he prayed that they would arrive quickly; he could feel her slipping away with each moment that passed. He noticed her eyes start to hazily open. She looked at him but he could tell she wasn't seeing very clearly.

"Jack?" She whispered, her eyes opening and closing slowly. He squeezed her hand to assure her that it was him. "Are you okay? Is Tony okay? Everything's so blurry, and I'm so tired." Jack knew that it wasn't a good thing for her to fall asleep with a concussion, but he didn't know how he was supposed to communicate with her. It also made him enraged to hear her ask how Tony was. He kept squeezing her hand, as he heard the sirens coming closer, and the bullets ceasing. Tony must have caught up to them, somehow, but Jack didn't care.

"Stay awake Sue. You can't go to sleep now, stay with me." He knew that she couldn't hear him, or probably read what he was saying. Levi whimpered and rested his chin on Jack's leg, as Sue stroked his fur with one free hand, her other still weakly holding Jacks. Jack could feel her grip getting looser and looser and her eyes start to stay closed.

"Sue? Sue!" Jack said, trying to wake her. Jack felt a strong hand on his shoulder push him away as two men in uniforms moved to her body. He turned and saw Bobby and Myles run towards him.

"What happened?" Bobby asked. He stopped in shock as he saw Jack's bloody hands, and Sue's limp body on the pavement. They both looked at Jack, who kept his eyes on Sue, as the two paramedics tried to revive her, Levi flush against his side, as anxious as he was.

Jack didn't know how many minutes passed by, but the next thing he knew, Sue was loaded onto a stretcher. Bobby and Myles hung around silently, unable to speak any words of support. Dimitrius soon joined them, and watched as they wheeled Sue away. Jack moved to go with them, but the paramedics stopped him.

"I'm sorry sir you can't come with us – she's going to need emergency surgery. You'll have to meet us at the hospital." Jack stood there, not completely able to understand what they were saying, as Myles took over, and moved Jack away from the doors.

"Thank you." He said quietly, as Dimitrius hurried over, and watched the ambulance pull away.

"What happened?" He asked. Jack finally talked.

"They started shooting. Tony had come over to my car, we had ducked behind my door, but they hit Sue." Jack stated simply, as if it wasn't himself talking, but someone else. His own mind was in a different universe. The four men looked over as they saw three men being put into a police car, and a some officers smiling and shaking Tony's hand, who was grinning, looking a bit bruised and cut, but not seriously injured. The words they were saying taunted Jack.

"Good Job Agent Caponno!"

"Way to go!" Tony smiled with gratitude, and before Bobby, Myles or Dimitrius could stop him, Jack hurried over to him and punched him hard. Next thing he knew, he was bleeding from his mouth, and being pulled off Tony by Bobby.

"He wanted to leave her there! He wanted to leave her to die!" Jack shouted, as Myles and Bobby held him back. Two other officers held back Tony, who was looking fiercely at Jack. Myles, Dimitrius and Bobby all looked mutinously at Tony, not surprised or blaming Jack for what he had done, now that they had heard the truth.

"Come on Jack." Bobby said, still glaring furiously at Tony. "Let's get to the hospital and see how Sue is. We can deal with him later." The four men quickly piled into the car and sped off, worried about the news they would receive upon arrive at the hospital.

To be continued… 


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N – Naturally, I'm thrilled at the response and will continue. This story won't be as long as my other ones (so far)! It was just a break from Within, since I've been working over a month on that story! Next Within Part 2 chapter will be up soon as well though… I have a few possibilities of how I want to end this, and I'm just going to keep writing and see what plays out… just to warn you. _

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Jack got up again and started to pace back and forth, like he had for the last 4 hours. Tara and Bobby had finally convinced him to sit down, not 5 minutes ago, but Jack just couldn't sit still.

Sue had been taken immediately into emergency surgery upon her arrival, and the entire team had been forced to wait and wonder what was going to happen. Lucy had broke down into tears, but after 4 hours of waiting, had fallen asleep out of exhaustion on the hospital waiting room chairs. Jack couldn't figure out how the time could pass so quickly, but painfully slowly at the same time. His mind would wander from thought to thought, some of them scaring him, some of them comforting him.

'_She shouldn't be in there that long, something must be seriously wrong._' He paced again towards the other wall. '_No news is good news. They're making sure that she's all right. Even after surgery it takes time to make sure that she's all right; the doctors know what they're doing._' He started pacing back the other way, his mind in continual conflict. '_It doesn't take this long. Maybe something happened._' He swallowed hard. What would he do if something did happened? He turned the other way again. '_Nothing could have happened. God still had too many plans for her._' He tried to reassure himself by saying that over and over again, hoping that somehow he was a part of those plans, hoping that it wasn't God's plan to take her this early.

Jack suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder, and turned quickly. It was Bobby. He didn't say anything, but nodded towards the doctor who was heading their way, his look grim. Myles went over to Lucy and gently woke her, knowing that she was just as anxious to talk to the doctor. A few other people waiting watched the group as they stood together, terrified for the doctor to come any closer, praying he didn't bear the news they were all afraid he would.

"Are you friends of Susan Thomas?" Myles was the only one who seemed to be able to talk, although in a quiet voice.

"She's a friend and a coworker." The doctor nodded. Jack could feel his heart beating faster and faster, knowing that the look on the surgeons face couldn't promise any good news.

"Miss. Thomas made it through surgery." Jack could hear all his friends breathe a sigh of relief, but he wasn't completely convinced yet – not with the way the doctor was still looking at them. "However, she's being transported to the ICU. Her heart stopped in the middle of surgery, and we needed to resuscitate her. She's in a coma, and I must warn you, the chances of her ever waking up are very slim." Jack stood in shock, and didn't even hear Lucy break down and sink to the floor in sobs, Myles holding her closely. He felt someone place a strong hand on his shoulder, but he didn't even react. He could feel his chest tightening, something like the feeling when he had had his heart attack, only this time he couldn't breathe either, and it was a dull, numb pain that pierced at his heart.

The doctor watched them for a few moments, before Dimitrius asked him quietly,

"What are her chances?" Jack looked up and faced the doctor. He needed to know.

"I'd say approximately one in ten. But there's no saying what kind of damage she could have if she does wake up. She lost a lot of blood through her shoulder, which we have repaired, and will heal, but she had bleeding in her brain from the concussion. We've done the best we can, but we don't know if there will be further complications." Jack stared at him in disbelief. This was the best they could do? A 10 chance that a young woman with her entire future ahead of her might live? Jack couldn't take the anesthetic smell, and the gloom of sickness anymore. He was suffocating and couldn't breathe. He couldn't listen to the doctor anymore; he just couldn't. Jack didn't know where his legs were taking him, but he didn't object. He needed to be anywhere but there. He needed to be with Sue, but it was the only place he couldn't be right then, and he would settle for anything other than the desperation of the hospital.

-----

Lucy was a complete wreck, and seeing as though they couldn't see Sue for at least another few hours, while they got her settled, Myles decided to take her and Levi home, practically dragging them both out of the surgery waiting room. Dimitrius, Bobby and Tara sat in silence, not too sure where to go or what to do. Tara had wanted to go after Jack, the moment he had started to walk away, but Bobby had grabbed her hand to stop her.

"Give him a few moments alone." Knowing that Bobby knew Jack probably better than almost anyone, she nodded, and took her seat again. Twenty minutes had passed and there had been still no sign of him. They all were a little worried, realizing that he hadn't said a word in hours and was probably taking this harder than anyone, maybe even blaming himself. They knew there was no point waiting in that room anymore, so they decided to go look for Jack, before figuring out what to do afterwards.

Tara finally spotted him, sitting hunched over on a park bench across the street from the hospital. She carefully crossed the street, and took the seat next to him.

"Are you okay?" She asked quietly, feeling her own tears welling in her eyes. As she sat next to Jack, who was looking hopeless and devastated, it finally hit her that she might lose one of her best friends. Jack didn't answer, only looked into the vast distance, all the light gone from his eyes, the guilt masking his face. "It's not your fault." She whispered, as she saw Jack's own eyes struggle to hold back tears.

Tara had seen both Bobby and Jack upset before, when Wes had died. Bobby had been more overt with how he was feeling, but Jack had become withdrawn. They had all seen the toll it had taken on the two men the weeks after, but gradually things had gotten back to normal. Tara knew from talking with Bobby that him and Jack both still missed Wes a lot, but she also knew that if they did lose Sue, it could very well destroy Jack too. After a few minutes of silence, each with their own tormented thoughts, Jack finally spoke, his normal voice masked with emotion and pain,

"I never understood how someone could want to take someone else's life. Until now." Tara looked at him, not fully understanding, until she realized that he was talking about Tony, the rage reflected in the back of his eyes. Tara knew that anger well. It was the same one that the entire team was feeling towards Tony for what he did. But she took a deep breath, and said quietly,

"Sue would've wanted you to forgive him." Jack looked away, and Tara knew that for the time being, he wouldn't understand because she didn't either, and she couldn't fathom forgiving him, but she hoped that one day, they would, because it had been something Sue had taught all of them, and something she would have done, if the situation had been reversed.

Tara felt her cell phone vibrate and she saw a text message from Bobby. She replied, letting him and D know that she had found Jack, and where they were. As she put her phone away, she saw that Jack was still looking off into the distance, unreachable in another world: a world without Sue. They sat in silence for a few moments, until she saw both men heading towards them. Jack and Tara both got up, and she looked him right in the eye,

"I still believe in miracles." Jack nodded, and responded in a barely audible whisper,

"Me too."

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_To be continued…_


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N – Well, this is definitely longer than I thought it would be… We'll see where it goes (I actually have NO plan what-so-ever, so I'm just writing off the top of my head…) _

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A few more hours had passed in a haze. Dimitrius had decided to go home, and come and see Sue in the morning, seeing as though visiting hours would be soon over and he wanted to be with his family. He put his hand on Jack's shoulder, encouragingly before leaving, and Jack nodded in appreciation, as he quietly whispered,

"There's still hope Jack. Don't give up yet." Jack took the seat across from Bobby and Tara, who watched him concernedly, both of them with exhausted, mourning faces. The nurse came out and nodded to them that they could now come in, but only one at a time. Jack looked at his two friends, who both gave him the same look, Bobby finally speaking,

"I'm going to take Tara home, then I'll come and get you. You're in no condition to drive." Tara nodded, and added,

"It's getting late, and I'll come first thing in the morning with Lucy. You spend some time with her Jack."

"Thanks." Jack answered, hoping that he could reflect his overwhelming appreciation. "But I'm not going anywhere. Not until she wakes up." Tara and Bobby looked at each other, and Tara put her hand on Jack's arm.

"We all are holding out hope Jack, but there is still a large chance…" Jack looked at her, his eyes determined.

"She's going to wake up." Tara nodded, and Bobby put his arm around her.

"Call us?" He asked, and Jack nodded, watching them walk away. He felt a pang of jealousy and anger for a second, which was quickly replaced by guilt. He wished it could have been his arm around Sue, walking away, but then it would have been someone else, dying in that hospital room.

Jack didn't know how to prepare himself, before walking into the room. He expected the machines and the beeps, the sterile smell and the constant monitoring by nurses and doctors. What he didn't expect, as he walked into the small, private room, was her fragile state: her pallid face, her motionless body under a certain of rough cotton, covered with tubes and machinery. He moved over to her side without the IV and grabbed her hand, the only piece of her skin that seemed to be free from the technology that was keeping her alive.

He could feel the tears burning in his eyes. She didn't deserve this. She didn't deserve to be trapped within her body, to be artificially alive. How he had grown to love that life inside of her! Now it was extinguished, that light that had brightened all their lives, barely present.

Jack prayed that he would have some sign – a fluttering of her eyelids, a weak squeeze of his hand - some sign that she was still with him, and still fighting. He knew that if there was any way of him reaching her, he had to try. He had to pray that through her deafness, or even through her coma, that someway she would be able to know that he was there, begging her to hang on. He tried to find words, but his throat was dry, and they only came out in whispers, almost inaudible.

"Sue – you have to stay with us. You have to keep fighting – you can't let go. We can't live without you… I can't live without you. I'll stay with you every step of the way. Don't leave me Sue."

-----

Jack stared out the window, leaning back in the uncomfortable plastic chair. The sun had long past set, and though both doctors and nurses had tried to convince him to go home and rest, he refused. Now, as hours had past, he could feel the exhaustion setting in. Jack didn't want to sleep, afraid that something might happen to her, as if she would disappear the moment he closed his eyes. Disappear into the darkness that was so close to claiming her. Random thoughts flitted through his mind. Thoughts about cases he needed to finish up at work, thoughts about needing to make sure Levi was fed; thoughts about having to tell Sue's parents that they might lose their daughter.

His eyelids started to get heavier, his body weaker, though the grip on Sue's hand never wavered. Jack could feel himself being sucked into his unconscious. His mind replayed the day's events. Hearing the footsteps, hearing the shots. Seeing her body, surrounded by her blood. Suddenly, he saw her. He smiled, and tears rolled, seeing her radiant face, her beautiful smile, and her perfect, healthy body walking towards him.

"Don't be sad." She said, though her voice was distant. Jack wanted to touch her, but couldn't reach her.

"Don't leave me." He whispered. She smiled at him sadly.

"If it's God's time for me, it's His time. You'll have to let me go Jack and move on with your life. You still have so much to live for." Jack shook his head.

"No – you still have so much to live for. I'm so sorry Sue. This is my fault – I should be the one lying there…" She reached her hand out, and he stopped. She looked at him seriously.

"It's not your fault. And you have to forgive him too." He could see her fading in his mind. Rationally, he knew that this couldn't be real, but he also knew that he couldn't just let her go. Her could hear her distant voice in his head. "I love you Jack. And tell my family and friends that I love them too." Jack could hear himself begging her to stay, as her image faded farther and farther away. His eyes opened suddenly, accommodating to the hospital room and he turned to look at Sue, who hadn't moved at all, in the same position as before he had fallen asleep. He bent over and rested his head in his hands, realizing that it had all been a dream. Just a stupid dream.

Jack turned suddenly, as there was a large beep that kept getting faster and faster from one of the machines. He stood up from his chair, wanting to scream for help, knowing that something wasn't right. Within seconds, people were rushing in, and he was being forced out of the room, tears streaming down his face as he heard the flat line of her heart monitor.


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N – You all know how much I love angst and suspense! I'm going to continue with Within: Part 2 as soon as I'm done this one :)_

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The gloom was still hovering over the bullpen a week later. No one laughed, no one smiled. They all assumed after what had happened, the people upstairs weren't giving them any cases, knowing that they probably couldn't deal with it at the moment, no after everything that had happened. Bobby looked around the room. Tara was absentmindedly playing with her rubix cube, her eyes unfocused, her face drained; Lucy was resting her chin on her hands, staring off into nowhere, obviously lost in thought. Jack had dark circles under his eyes and was gazing at Sue's empty desk, Levi lying sadly at his feet.

No one felt like going out for lunch anymore, or playing practical jokes. Everything had changed after that fateful day that had affected all their lives. From what they had heard, Tony was facing disciplinary action, but wouldn't lose his job. Dimitrius had broken the news to Jack gently. Jack wanted to be furious, but his mind kept going back to the vision he had had in the hospital, when Sue had wanted him to forgive Tony and move on with his life.

Jack glanced at his watch, which was reading just shortly after 4pm. He sighed and started re-arranging his things, grabbing what he needed. Bobby made his way over to his best-friends desk.

"Going home mate?" He asked gently, knowing what Jack was thinking even though he didn't answer. "Jack, I know that you're trying, we all are, but you can't do this to yourself either. It's not good for you – you look like you haven't slept in days." Jack looked up, his eyes telling him that he hadn't slept in days.

"I have to – for the both of us." He said quietly and emotionally, before slowly walking away, everyone's eyes following him out the door.

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"Mr. Hudson!" Jack turned around in the sterile, dull hallway as he heard his name being called.

"Hi Lydia." He said glumly. "Sorry, I know I'm a bit late. How is she?" She smiled.

"We were about to call you. She opened her eyes today." Jack looked at the ICU nurse in shock. "Wait a second though. I don't want to get your hopes up – she's still unresponsive, but the doctor does say it's a good sign." Jack quickly followed her to what had become his second home. He hadn't slept at his own place since Sue had been admitted, and the nurses had been nice enough to find a cot for him so he could stay overnight and be close to her. The only time he ever went home now was to shower and change his clothes.

He couldn't help but smile, and also cry to see her blue eyes staring blankly up at the ceiling. How he had prayed to see those eyes again. After having gone into cardiac arrest the day she had been moved to the ICU, Jack had been so sure he had lost her, but the doctor assured him that she was a fighter once they had gotten her back to stable condition. Over the last few days she had made small improvements, and it had taught Jack to hope like he never had before.

The rest of the team came to visit her often, but were all concerned about Jack's unwillingness to see reality. As hard as it was, they all knew that the chances were low, no matter how much improvement she made. The smallest infection could change everything. As much as they hoped and prayed, they didn't want to get their hopes up, just to crash again like they had when they had first found out about her condition. They were worried about how Jack would handle it, if she didn't recover.

Jack grabbed her hand, and kept talking to the nurse. He had become well acquainted with them, having spent so much of his time sitting next to Sue. They were great at explaining what they were doing, and what things meant. It meant a lot to him that they were trying to make sure he knew what was going on. The nurse he had met in the hall, Lydia, had come back into the room to take her vitals.

"The respiratory doctor is going to come in later, and take her off the respirator for a few seconds, see if she starts breathing on her own. We did an MRI once her eyes opened, and know that there is still a lot of brain activity – she's not brain dead, and she's still with us and fighting." Jack gave her a small smile. He grabbed Sue's hand, and squeezed it like he always did, to assure her that he was there. He hoped for a second that she would squeeze back, but she didn't. Still, her eyes being open was a good sign.

Jack would like to talk to her, as if she could hear him. Even if she had been awake, he knew that it would be impossible, but now that her eyes were open, he had an idea. With the nurse's head, they turned her head slightly, so he would be in her line of vision.

"Everyone misses you at work." He signed slowly. "Especially Levi. But we're taking good care of him." Jack didn't want her to worry needlessly. He smiled as he saw her blink. It was a movement, at that was all he cared about, no matter if it was just a reflex.

"I'm going on my break," Lydia said kindly, "Do you want me to bring you anything back?" Jack shook his head.

"Thanks – I ate on my way here. Have a good break." She smiled and nodded before leaving to give Jack and Sue some privacy. Jack continued,

"Your parents will be back again on Saturday. They will be happy to hear that your beautiful eyes are open again. I promised them I would watch after you." Jack watched her blink again. Such a small thing, that meant so much to him. He had taken so many things for granted when it came to Sue. The hours they had spent even just talking. He wished he could have that back. He knew if she did ever come out of this, he would make sure she knew he would be by her side, for as long as she wanted him. And he hoped that it would be forever.

"When you wake up," Jack signed some more, "I'm going to take you for a great dinner and we can talk and laugh and dance, just like old times. You can't leave me Sue. You have too much to live for, and I don't want to live without you." Jack watched her blink a few times. An idea suddenly popped into his head. He knew it was farfetched, but he had to try.

"Sue, if you can understand, blink three times." He looked intently at her vivid blue distant eyes, waiting. A few seconds past, which felt like hours, until he saw her blink. Three times. Wanting to make sure it wasn't just a coincidence, he signed to her again,

"Sue – if you know what I'm saying, blink 3 times again. I need to make sure." Sure enough, she blinked three times. Jack had never felt so joyful in his entire life, as he impulsively moved forward and kissed her on the cheek, absolutely ecstatic. He signed again.

"I'm going to go tell the nurse. I'll be right back. Blink twice if this is okay." She blinked twice. Jack squeezed her hand, reassuring her that he would not be long, as he rushed down the hall to the nurse's station, feeling happier than he had in days.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N – Sorry guys, school's been pretty hectic lately…This was just supposed to be a one shot, so I'm not going to keep going much longer on this one! 

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Five weeks later… 

Jack hurried around to the other side of the car and opened the door, grinning from ear to ear. He grabbed her warm hand and slowly helped her get out of the vehicle.

"Are you sure you don't want to go home first? They don't even know you were released today." Sue smiled, as she carefully got out of the car. She was still very sore from the two weeks she had spent in the ICU, and then the three weeks still in a hospital bed, her injured shoulder still throbbing after five weeks.

"I want to surprise them." Jack looked at her concernedly.

"Are you sure you can walk that whole way? You haven't gone this far yet, and I don't have a wheelchair to push you." She rolled her eyes, but appreciating his worry.

"I'll make it." She said, as Jack quickly locked his car doors. Sue grabbed a hold of his arm and they slowly made their way upstairs.

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"Sue looked great yesterday, don't you think?" Tara said to Lucy as they walked back into the bullpen after lunch.

"She did. Hopefully she'll be released soon. I know she's getting anxious to get out of there."

"Where's Jack?" Bobby spoke up. They had all noticed Jack's frequent absence from the bullpen. He was always around when they needed him, but he had stayed pretty low key on their most recent cases, and they all assumed that he was spending as much time as he could at the hospital.

All of the sudden they heard Levi start barking madly from beside Lucy's desk. They all turned to look at him strangely, when Jack walked through the door, hanging around near Lucy's desk.

"Look who it is. We were about the send out the search party." Myles said, jokingly. Lucy started petting Levi, trying to get him to calm down as he was still barking at Jack.

"What's wrong with him?" Tara said coming over. Jack just grinned.

"I think he's realized that I brought him a special present. Actually, it's for everyone here." Myles rolled his eyes and sat back down at his desk.

"I don't think I want anything that he's brought for Levi." Myles muttered to himself. Jack hurried outside, and came back with a very pale, but smiling blond that had been absent from their team for weeks.

"That's too bad Myles." Jack said, as he heard Lucy and Tara scream and hurry over to carefully hug Sue. After everyone had hugged and welcomed her, Jack helped her over to her desk to sit down, as she was looking very tired and worn out. Everyone moved closer.

"How are you feeling?" Dimitrius asked kindly.

"Sore." She said smiling. "But happy to be out of the hospital. Strange thing is, I still can't piece together why I was in there, but as Jack tells me, for now I'm better off not remembering."

"You had us all worried." Bobby said, giving her his big Aussie grin.

"I still have a while to go, but I can't tell you how glad I am to be back." Everyone beamed at her, as she looked at Jack, who had a look in his eyes she had never really noticed until she had awoken out of the haze in the hospital and seen him sitting next to her, praying she would wake up. She knew that after what had happened they would need to talk, and that their lives were going to change.

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Jack and Sue walked very slowly through the park the next day, Sue still clinging to Jack's arm for support in the soft autumn evening sun, as Levi ran around chasing anything that was moving. Noticing how tired she was getting, Jack led her towards a bench and they both sat down, laughing as they watched Levi attempt to catch a squirrel.

"I thought that we would never have moments like this again." Jack said quietly. Sue looked at him intently for a few moments.

"God wasn't ready to take me yet, and I'm okay with that." She said smiling. Jack grabbed her hand and squeezed it. "But since I am here, I want you to know that I don't want to live without you anymore either." Jack looked at her slightly surprised. They hadn't really talked about a relationship between them, in the last few weeks at the hospital, but they both had realized their relationship had grown stronger as Jack had spent hours with her in the hospital.

"Me too." He said, as he leaned over and kissed her gently on the lips. As Sue rested her head on Jack's shoulder, she knew that the next few months were going to be hard. She was still confused about what had happened, she didn't remember why she had gotten hurt, but what she did know was that she had someone who was going to be with her every step of the way, and she was excited to see where their relationship was going to go.

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I love fluffiness. Please still review - I'd like to hear what you guys thought of the story. Originally, I was going to kill Sue (I know I'm terrible, but I was loving the angst I was building up), but in the end I just couldn't do it. Keep in tune with my other story, Within Part 2, which will be updated soon! Thanks so much for all your support!


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